Saturday, April 9, 2011

The World School, Schools Supporting Schools, a local student-run aid organization, is pleased to announce a fundraising Talent Show to benefit their planned humanitarian aid trip to Mexico and Belize for two weeks this summer. The performance will take place at 7:00 pm on Friday, April 15, 2011, in the Fogelberg Performing Arts Center of Burlington High School.

The benefit performance will feature Burlington High School students who will donate their time and talents in vocal, dance, improv and rock band performances. Performers include Face the World, Emerson, Eric Leva, Julianne Fitzgerald, Katie Pustizzi, Patrick Hanafin, Theo Brierley, Samantha Goober, Zaven Ovian, the Burlington High School Idle Hands Improv and the SDC Dancers.

The World School is a student-run service group that was created in 2008 when three local area students brainstormed following mission trips to Chuburna, Mexico. Appalled by the Chuburna facilities and the conditions the children faced on a daily basis, they came to the realization that the foundation to helping the impoverished on a long-term basis lies in education, and the best way to help a school was through a school.

Adopting the old proverb, “Give a man a fish, he eats for a night, teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime,” the young students travelled to a school in the Yucatanian fishing village to improve its appalling conditions by refurbishing classrooms, setting up a library and providing two generously donated laptop computers. That school, La Escuela Primera 373 Salvador Alvarado, became the pilot school for this dedicated group of young American students. This year's students who will make the journey are Jenna Frank, Cameron Frank, Christyl Skelton, Stephen Jefferson and Sarah McAnespie.

Tickets for The World School Talent Showcase benefit performance are $6 for students and senior citizens, $8 for adults, and can be purchased at the door or by calling 781-272-9724. Fogelberg Performing Arts Center is handicapped accessible. Burlington High School is located at 123 Cambridge Street, Burlington, MA. For more information on this student-run aid organization, visit www.TheWorldSchool.info.